The way La Costa Canyon High coach Dave Cassaw sees it, he has the best of both worlds over the holiday season.

First, his program gets to make a little money by hosting the American Division of the Torrey Pines Holiday Prep Classic, which starts today at five sites around the county.

By being a part of the area’s most recognizable high school boys basketball tournament, he can gain the financial benefits without really hosting his own tournament, which after 13 years as a head coach he knows can produce a yearlong migraine headache.

“We do the snack bar and a little bit elsewhere,” said Cassaw, who last week took his team to play in the tough Mission Prep Christmas Classic in San Luis Obispo where the Mavericks suffered their first loss of the season — to nationally ranked Woodland Hills Taft — after winning their first nine games.

“We’re able to make some money without the hassle.”

But occasionally, like this year and when the Mavericks won a San Diego Section title behind Chase Budinger in 2005-06, that comes at a price. By hosting the American Division, LCC, which is ranked No. 1 in the section, misses out on playing the more ballyhooed teams in the National Division.

Programs like storied DeMatha of Hyattsville, Md., and Archbishop Mitty of San Jose are annually placed into the National Division at Torrey Pines High by tournament director John Olive, who has the unenviable task of trying to fit as many as 30 high-quality teams into the 16-team top division.

As a result, Olive has often said the American Division is just a small step down in quality. A very small step. Programs like Roosevelt and Curtis from the state of Washington will provide plenty of competition for the top-seeded Mavericks, who open at home against Folsom at 7:30 this evening after defeating Poway 59-39 Monday in the tournament’s Tipoff Day event at Torrey Pines.

“It’s very comparable,” said Cassaw, whose team has never played in the National Division. “A year ago we talked about it, but if you have your assistants run the site while you run the team, it tears the team apart. Years like this it would be nice to be in the National, but then we’d lose our connection with our fans, and we don’t want that.”

Besides, by playing in the Mission Prep Tournament, Cassaw got to see his team against one of the favorites in the National Division, Taft, whom the Mavericks battled until the final buzzer before losing 58-52.

“We don’t need two National tournaments, that would be over-scheduling, but we’re on the edge of that with the American Division,” Cassaw said.

The Mavericks’ star player, Matt Shrigley, who recently signed a letter of intent with San Diego State, said while there may be bigger names in the National Division, the American is plenty competitive.

“The teams in the National are more hyped, but the American Division has great teams, too,” Shrigley said. “It’s such a great experience playing at home in front of our fans and students. It’s a step-by-step process where we want to take those steps and be at a higher level by the end of the year.”

Clearly, winning the National Division and losing in the section playoffs is not a tradeoff any of the Mavericks are willing to consider. And this is a team that is looking to make some noise come late February and March.

“You always remember what you did in the (section) playoffs,” said Cassaw. “Tournaments like the Holiday Prep Classic are there to make us better for the end of the season. This may be the best team I’ve coached because we go nine deep.”

That’s saying something because with the All-American Budinger leading the way, the Mavericks of 2005-06 were outstanding. In the title game, Budinger, now a member of the Houston Rockets, went off for 50 points to help beat Eastlake 85-73 before a packed house at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Cassaw said the depth, with starters Shrigley, David Travers, Zach Beery and Jeff Van Dyke, is especially valuable in practices.

“We can go five-on-five and all of the players are really tough kids,” Cassaw said. “It’s like playing a good team every day. You have faith that your teammates can get it done, there is competition and if you execute there, you can execute in the game.

“We’ve thrown the Wally Pipp phrase around quite a bit with this year’s team.”

Wally Pipp is famous for deciding to take himself out of the New York Yankees lineup only to be replaced by Lou Gehrig, who played 2,130 straight games, relegating Pipp to the bench before being traded.

“We’re trying to develop team chemistry this time of year, find our strengths and weaknesses,” Cassaw said. “We’ll have plenty of time to practice in January, but for now we need good competition and this tournament provides that.”